Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average response time was for applicants to receive a decision on their expression of interest to the places of worship renewal fund.

Historic England runs a competitive process to allocate funding for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF), with clearly defined application windows, deadlines and target response dates published online to accompany applicant guidance.

The selection process for PWRF begins with an initial EOI submitted within the publicised application window. These EOIs allow HE to evaluate high-level project urgency, building eligibility, and alignment with regional priorities before inviting selected applicants to submit a full application. In the second stage, shortlisted applicants provide detailed technical specifications, comprehensive costings, and proof of deliverability for full assessment. Because both stages rely on set submission deadlines and fixed outcome notification dates, all applicants within a round progress concurrently and share the same overall response timeline.